ROSE PUBLISHING: Blandness, In Part

The Plan of Salvation is, in a number of ways, a helpful and encouraging pamphlet for those who wish to share the good news of salvation. The general sense that I get after reading it, however, is that humanity has fallen into an unfortunate predicament and that God has been nice enough to get us out of it. For some reason, the lostness of the sinner has been muted, the transcendence of God seems less than obvious, and the kingship idea alone has taken its place. Having said that, there is a very good section on how evil works its way through things, warping human relationships with God, with other humans, and with nature, and there is a creditable discussion of forgiveness and reconciliation. As well, the Romans Road section and, particularly, the one called Presenting the Good News present Biblical emphases. Rose Publications has given me an advance copy of this pamphlet in return for a fair assessment

Rose Publishing [pamphlet]: The Seven Churches of Revelation

A Multi-Use Pamphlet
“The Seven Churches of Asia” has many things to commend it, and is a pamphlet that can be utilized in numerous ways. The context of these churches in this attractive booklet is quite clearly communicated: first of all, with a map that has just the right amount of detail, then with individual descriptions of the cities and their enterprises and philosophies, and, after that, with a number of tables that identify their virtues, their faults, their potential rewards, and the manner in which their Lord communicates with them. The Isle of Patmos, where the writer, the Apostle John was exiled, is not so very far offshore, and one can imagine the many "home thoughts" he must have had from abroad. This pamphlet would be a help either to someone making a first study of these churches or to someone teaching it: it would prevent getting lost in the details, since the main ideas would always be in front of one. Great stuff! Rose Publishing gave me a free copy in return for an unbiased review

Movie: Sing Over Me

I see that a fairly new movie, by Dennis Jernigan, a well-known Christian songwriter, is out. In it he traces the story of his life, including a period of homosexuality, through a life-changing experience at a concert given by a Christian group, on through his eventual marriage and his becoming the father of nine, to the present time.

It is not a free movie, but the cost to rent is not a large one:  I think it is $4.99 USD, or something like that.  It is at Vimeo so it can be seen on your computer screen.  The DVD version could be ordered from Amazon.

Here is the Vimeo link:  Sing Over Me
And, here is the trailer link:   Link to trailer:

This is an unusual story, but Dennis' transparency has led to many other people finding hope in their particular dilemmas, particularly if they are ones like his.
I, personally, have viewed it, and thought that this film did not try to take a prescriptive role, but merely described the experience of a particular person, taking account of the fact, that, for example, that not every person that is same-sex attracted will change his or her orientation or even be able to do so, even if those persons take the traditional Biblical view.
It would appear that, in the case of Dennis Jernigan, there were significant factors from outside that encouraged his lifestyle initially, so it was something perhaps more environmentally than biologically related.
So, it could be helpful to someone whose dilemma is the same as Jernigan's.  It is a film, moreover, that helps us realize that there are many cases within the domain of homosexuality that do not fit the usual profile.
In the case of others, such as Sam Alberry of the UK, the situation is quite different, although Allberry takes the traditional Christian and biblical stance as well Sam Allberry's Same-Sex Attraction Remarks at Synod.

So, this film depicts a particular situation:  there are others, as well, within the Biblical and Christian paradigm, eh?